Fire-alarm system



(No Model.) Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. F. T. FEAREY 8v J. SPEIGHER. FIRE ALARM SYSTEM.

No. 443,478. Patentd Dec. 23, 1890.

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F. TJPEAREY & J. SPEIGHER.

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM.

No. 443,478. Patented Dec. 23, 1890.

Ill |l II k z 'mmgmw WITNESSES: INVENTUH UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK T. FEAREY, OF NEIVARK, AND JOHN SPEIOHER, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE NEVARK DISTRICT TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OF NEV JERSEY.

FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,478, dated December 23, 1890.

Application filed July 30, 1889.

'10 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, FREDERICK '1. FEAREY, residingat Newark, Essex county,New Jersey, and JOHN SPEICHER, residing at Jersey City,

in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Alarm Systems; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exio act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of fire-alarm systems and to the private boxes employed therein which is referred to in my prior applications, Nos. 277,807, 287,726, 287,083, and others. 1 The object of this invention is to secure a more perfect efficiency of service; and it consists in the improved fire-alarm box and fire- 2 5 alarm system having the arrangements and combinations of parts substantially as will be hereinafter set forth, and finally embodied in the clauses of the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 0 embraced in two sheets, in which like letters indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures, Figure 1 is a front elevation: illustrating theimproved box in its preferred construction and the fire-alarm system of- 3 5 which it forms a part. Fig. 2 is a detail plan of a circuit-changer employed in said box, and Fig. Sisa detail view of the galvanometer employed with the fire-alarm box. Fig.1, Sheet 2, is a similar view to Fig. 1, showinga o modified construction and arrangement of the box mechanism and system of which it forms a part. Fig. 2 is a detail plan of the circuit-wheel of a preferred construction and cooperating parts, and Fig. 3 is a central sec- 5 tion of said circuit-wheel.

In said drawings, a indicates a casing or box, preferably of wood, with a glass or glazed front door, in which box the working parts are arranged and protected from dust and Serial No. 319,180. (No model.)

the effects of the weather, and through which door the said working parts may be seen and the handle for operating said working parts maybe grasped, in the event of a fire, after fracturing the glass, and manipulated to produce a movement of the circuit-changing mechanisms. Of said circuit-changing mechanisms 1) indicates a main shaft on which the handle (in the preferred construction a crank c) for winding the motor is arranged. Said shaft has its bearings in a metal frame cl, as do most of the other working parts for operating the circuit-wheel. On said shaft 17 is arranged a spring 6, adapted to be wound up under the influence of the crank when the latter is turned, said spring having its center bearing 011 said shaft and its outer bearing on the frame or other suitable fixture. On said shaft is also arranged a loose cogwheel f, adapted to move independent of the shaft. spring-actuated pawl g, which engages the ratchet-wheel 71, fixed on said shaft to move therewith.

The cog-wheel f engages a pinion by means of which the power exerted by the spring is transmitted to a cog-wheel i on the circuit-wheel shaft j, by which the latter is turned and with it the circuit-wheel 7c. The cog-wheel i engages a pinion Z on a shaft or arbor in, having thereon a suitable governor or regulator, which may consist of an escape wheel at and escapement-pawl 0.

The circuit-wheel It consists of two parts 19 q, one of which controls the operation of an extension 0* of the main fire-alarm circuit 0", so that an alarm of fire may be made on the bells, gongs, &c., thereon, and the other said part engages another extension or shunt u of or an auxiliary to the said main circuit, connecting with the nearest engine-house to go transmit the alarm thereto before the same is transmitted over the main circuit. The part p of said circuit-wheel it maybe integral with or insulated from the other part, and is provided with a series or plurality of circuitchanging projections or parts for making and breaking the circuit of the extension-wires r, connecting with the ordinary municipal or Said cog-wheel is provided with a 7o similar contact-points for making or breaking j the circuit, the said points corresponding to 5 the distinguishing numberot' the box, so that when a tire occurs and the motor is set; in Operation an alarm will be sent over the ongine-house extension or auxiliary u immediately while the eseapement of the main box is yet being released, so that the exact location of the tire may be known at the nearest engine-house E before the general alarm is sounded. Thebell n of the said engine-house may be on an auxiliary circuit independent of the main tire-alarm circuit; bu t; we prefer to operate the said bell by means of a shunt wire and magnet arranged on the main circuit, and thus dispense with the use of local batteries, which are open to the manipulation of inexpert operators or attendants. The contact springs or terminals .9 for engaging the circuit-wheel parts are of any ordinary construction or arrangement, the springs being preferably arranged side by side on a block i of suitable insulating material.

In operating the improved system in accordance with our improvements the motor in the private box is actuated by turning the hand-crank therein so that the parts of the circuit-wheel are operated simultaneously. The extensiondine r is then broken to effect a step-by-step movement of the eseapement in the district box, and at the same time the wire a direct to the nearest engine-house is broken and an alarm transmitted to said enginehouse on the bell 8 before the regular alarm on the bell or gong -t is sent in over the main circuit. The auxiliary circuit a may be i11- dependent of the main circuit r, and may be controlled by a battery 5 at the engine-house, as in Fig. 1; but we prefer the arrangement shown in Fig. 1, in which the single battery at the firealarm headquarters oreentral ottice C controls the whole system.

In the preferred construction the normal course of the current is as follows: Starting from the battery at the headquarters C, the current passes over the main line rto the district box D 13. From thence it. passes over the shunt r to the private box l B, and from thence back over said shunt to the district box. It then passes to the engine-house E, where it is again shunted and caused to pass over the wire U, back to the private box, where it may be broken at s g. After passing back again to the engine -house and through the bell mechanism 3, the current finally returns to the battery at headquarters. When the auxiliary is broken at the terminals s p, the current is forced through the eleetro-magnetof armature 0 at the enginc-house. Said magnet-being wound with wires of greater resistance than the main-line wires, the current normally takes the longer course over the shunt a; butwhen the latter is broken at the private box the said magnet is magnetized and its armature attracted.

To enable a person at the private box to understand or know whether or not the alarm has been sent from the district box, we employ a galvanomcter 10 and arrange the same on a shunt 123 of the shunt r, so that when the latter shunt is broken at terminals ll. 12 by pushing on the button it the current will be forced through the magnet of the galvanometer, and when the alarm is sent out from the district box the magnet will be influenced and the needle turned, so that the fact will be apparent to the person at said privatebox, and a second alarm will not be sent out.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new is .l. The improved tire-alarm system, combining therein a main circuit having a central ol'ticc U and its battery, a district alarmbox with its eontrollirig-magnet, and a tireengine houseand its alarm mechanisms thereon, a shunt 2', extending around the said controlling-magnet and having a private box thereon, and an auxiliary line 1/, extending from said private box direct to said enginehouse, whereby the alarm mechanism of said enginc-housc is all'ected to effect an immediate alarm prior to the transmission of an alarm to said engine-house over the main circuit, the said private box having a circuitchangcr therein for changing the currents over said shunt and said auxiliary lines, substantially as set forth.

The improved tire-alarm system herein described, combining therein a main circuit having an engine-house with its alarmmcchanisms and district box with its circuitchanging mechanisms and means foroperatiug said mechanisms locally, and having a magnet controlling said circuit changing mechanisms, a shunt extending around said controlling-magnct of said district box and having a private box thereon with circuitchanging mechanisms therein, and a direct line extending from said private box to said engine-house and controlled by the said circuitwhangiug mechanisms of the said private box, whereby an alarm may be transmitted to said engine-house direct before the regular alarm is received at said engine-house over the main line, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing we have hereunto set our hands this 17th day of .luly, N80.

FREDERICK T. I IAREY. JOHN SPEICIIER. \fitnesscs:

CHARLES Ill. PnLn, .Tonx It. ficmrin'r. 

